The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival will run from Aug. 2 to 11, 2024. Catch the 10 full-length finalists and 10 short feature films compete for the coveted Balanghai trophies.
Award-winning filmmaker Carlos Siguion-Reyna looks forward to revitalizing the country’s independent film industry as the new Competition and Monitoring Committee chairman. He assumed the position vacated by director Jose Javier Reyes, now serving as the new chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). “I have to get into transition mode.
Basically, a lot of that is making sure na ma-implement kung ano ‘yung naka-plan for 2024,” said Siguion-Reyna when asked about his first order of business. “Right now, I’m getting to know the landscape of this year’s Cinemalaya Film Festival.” Aside from that, he will run the Cinemalaya Film Lab for 2025, where he will be “guiding the 20 semi-finalists and helping them complete the scripts that would be chosen for next year’s competition.
” His connection to Cinemalaya runs deep. Siguion-Reyna taught a combination of 13 writing and directing courses at the Singapore campus of the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for seven years. During his summer breaks in August, he would return to the Philippines and get involved with Cinemalaya.
His feature film Hari ng Tondo (Where I Am King) received the Special Jury Prize in the Directors’ Showcase category of the 10th Cinemalaya in 2014. He also serve.
